Page 73 of Captured By the Scaled Outlaw
I’m unsure of what Kinsley would gain from coming all this way to rescue me, but there is no doubt that he is here out of self-interest. There has to be an angle to it, that’s just how he is.
“Kinsley is not a good person; he wouldn’t show up here unless it’s for his own benefit,” I say. “He’s a smart manipulator, tricky and charismatic. No one knows how to read him like I do. He’s deceptively convincing, despite his appearance.”
Guy’s eyes go wide, filled with uncertainty. His attention shifts between me and the Nilsanian soldiers.
“Lowell will kill me.”
“Guy, please.”
He shakes his head again. “I have orders, May. If that Kinsley man is as dangerous and untrustworthy as you say, allowing you forward would be stupid.”
They have no idea what they’re up against. Kinsley is a sociopath.
He’s not just insane, but evil too. A military official would have been more welcome than someone of his deplorability. Ginny has her wits about her, but someone who can survive the inter-politics of the Nilsanian government for decades will triumph every time.
I grit my teeth. “Move us closer or I’ll scream.”
“May, no. I said—”
I vocalize a small scream, steadily increasing in volume. While childish, it has to be done.
Guy winces, waving his hands back and forth until I stop. He bares his teeth, but not in aggression.
“Goddess, you’re a handful. I see why Lowell likes you,” he sighs, defeated. “Just… just stay next to me.”
Behind the abundance of concrete and weaponry, Guy leads me closer to the cluster of Gaia 4 and soldiers. Although I can’t see Ginny’s face from behind, I sense she’s on-edge. I’m not surprised she’s already sussed what a snake Kinsley is.
“Whatever you can say to Lowell, you can say to me,” she says, her arms crossed. She may be short in stature, but her broad and muscled shoulders are incredibly intimidating.
Kinsley sneers, mirroring Ginny by crossing his arms as well. “If I wanted to talk to some halfwit soldier, I would have asked for that. Is Lowell dead? Or is that lazy miscreant vermin taking a leisurely nap while his thralls toil away for him?”
Ginny’s brow raises in disbelief, but her voice doesn’t waver in its directness. “You don’t seem to understand how this will end if Lowell gets involved. Speaking with me, his ‘halfwit soldier’ is our most peaceful option.”
“I find it hard to believe that that abhorrent animal would give up the opportunity to be face-to-face with the Nilsanian soldiers he so despises,” Kinsley replies, a grotesque smile lifting his ratty mustache. “Forgive me if I don’t believe your lies, little miss.”
Dropping her head, Ginny exhales in exasperation at the blatant disrespect. She doesn’t seem bothered, but that’s because she’s stalling for time.
Guy protectively splays his hand across my back, sliding in place next to me. “It was difficult for her to convince Lowell to stay behind. She’s worried that if they see the state he’s in, they’ll seize the opportunity to overtake the base. Even with Ginny’s leadership, most of us are lost without Lowell’s command and strength. It would be a devastating loss if anything bad happened to either of them right now.”
Ginny’s fears aren’t unfounded. From what I understood in the Nilsan weekly newspapers, Lowell was present at every attack, regardless of scale. Nilsan can easily deduce that something is wrong with him based solely on his absence.
“If you have nothing to say to me, then I suggest you leave,” Ginny says, her body so stiff she may as well be made of stone.
She’s afraid.
Kinsley’s smile skews crooked. “Oh, come on, now. You know I can’t justleave.I haven’t even made my request yet! But if you’re unwilling to be hospitable —” he cuts off with a yelp.
The Nilsanian soldiers shift into offensive positions, looking at one another with reservations. Kinsley’s eyes widen as he takes a stumbling step back, horror painted on ghostly skin.
Ginny cocks her head with intrigue.
I hear him before I see him. Boisterous, thudding steps displace the sand beneath reptilian feet. The earth may as well be parting with how it tremors. A deep exhale pours from a frothing maw, agitated.
“I hear you’re disrespecting my second-in-command, yeah?” Lowell growls. A spirited, unhinged expression clings to his face like a mask, the likes I haven’t seen since our initial encounter. And while he tries to hide his limp, it’s clear he is favoring his bad side.
Kinsley jumps to attention, his stringy body trembling under Lowell’s oppressive presence. He, much like I did, underestimated Lowell’s staggering size. TheWANTEDprofile that described his height was always believed to be an exaggeration, but the irony is that it wasunderstated.
“Y-yes,” Kinsley says, pinching his shoulders back. He tries to appear less startled, but his brain doesn’t do a very good job of relaying that information to his face.
